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GDrive, GMail & Measurement Lab Connections

With so much buzz about GDrive, I'm a little surprised there has been no mention of the potential connection with Measurement Lab and GMail.

Google's internal version of GDrive (aka Platypus) was designed to provide faster "open and save" speeds. This "Local IO speed" as it's referred by Google internal documents, equates to open and save speeds in the cloud rivaling that for local files. For obvious reasons, slow connection speeds and ISP related issues could easily be mistaken for problems with GDrive. To avoid GDrive potentially being blamed for ISP issues, it only makes sense that Google would act to empower "the public with useful information about their broadband connections".

As a "A filer for the whole world. But better." There are a number of advantages to storing information via GDrive (Platypus). These advantages include backup, sync, web access, collaboration and offline access similar to that recently introduced by GMail.

Personally, I don't see the timing for all of these as being purely coincidental.....